Cross-cultural analysis of neuroelectrical cognitive and emotional variables during the appreciation of TV commercials

In this study we investigated the cerebral activity of a group of Eastern people during the observation of a Western and an Eastern version of the same TV commercial advertising a very popular smartphone. By comparing the electroencephalographic (EEG) signals in theta, alpha and heart rate (HR) activity of the population investigated, we estimated and compared the levels of memorization, attention, pleasantness and emotion perceived. Results present and increase of the pleasantness and emotion while watching particular scenes of interest of the Eastern version of the commercial. These findings suggest that this kind of technology is able to track variation of the cerebral * This work was partially supported by a grant of the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs for the development of the bilateral scientific relation between Italy and China “Neuropredictor”. G. Vecchiato W. Kong A.G. Maglione P. Cherubino A. Trettel F. Babiloni Neuropsychological Trends – 16/2014 http://www.ledonline.it/neuropsychologicaltrends/ 24 activity related to cognitive and emotional processing across TV commercials. Moreover, there is the possibility to investigate frame segments of particular interest for marketers that could be properly adapted according to the cultural context in which the advertising campaign will be promoted.